thedrifter
06-18-06, 11:53 AM
Dad, 3 sons soldier on
Home News Tribune Online 06/18/06
By RICK MALWITZ
STAFF WRITER
rmalwitz@thnt.com
SAYREVILLE — It is what men routinely did before Jerry Pizzillo did it, and it is what three of his sons are doing today: serving in the military.
"What you get (in the military) is an education in life. You'll never learn in a book or in a school what you learn in the military," said Pizzillo, a retired South Amboy police chief, who served in the Marines from 1971 to 1973.
Today he has one son, Thomas, 20, a Marine corporal, stationed in Iraq. Another son, James, 23, a Marine lance corporal, was stationed there last year. He is home on leave this weekend, and preparing for his second deployment to Iraq next month.
Pizzillo's youngest son, Joseph, 18, just completed his first year at Norwich (Vt.) University, the oldest private military academy in the country. There he is enrolled in the Marines ROTC, and will be commissioned as a second lieutenant when he graduates.
His oldest son, Gerard, is a student at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in East Lansing, Mich.
Today, Pizzillo will spend Father's Day home with James and Joseph, and he anticipates a call from Gerard. Thomas will be excused if he does not phone home.
"It depends on where he is, and we have no idea," said Pizzillo's wife, Sue, who received her Mother's Day phone call from Thomas that Friday.
The couple treats news from Iraq differently. When anything about the war comes on the television, Jerry perks up, and Sue does not. "I find myself not watching. The less I know the better," she said.
Speaking of his sons — and others who chose the military after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had begun — Pizzillo said, "At a time of war, they stepped up to the plate, putting their lives in harm's way."
"But as their father," he added. "I wish I could trade places."
There is no way of overstating the Pizzillos' patriotism — from the multiple flags in their front yard, the many stickers on their vehicles and the red, white and blue theme of most rooms in their house.
Their collection of Americana artwork began with a worn black wooden box about the size of a hope chest, now resting in their family room. It is the wooden box Jerry's maternal grandmother, Rose Sorrentino, used to bring her belongings through Ellis Island. Pizzillo has been unable to get the precise date of her arrival from Italy, knowing only it was sometime before her 1910 wedding in the United States.
Sue's grandfather, Joseph Kemble, served in World War I, and her father, James Kemble, served in the Navy on the USS Franklin in World War II.
Jerry's father, Pat, served on the USS Missouri in World War II, though he was not on board the ship when Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepted the formal surrender from Japan on Sept. 2, 1945.
After the war, Pat Pizzillo returned to his home in Jersey City, before building a home in Sayreville in 1950, where he still lives today. His brother, Thomas Pizzillo, died during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in 1944.
"I grew up listening to war stories. I was born into it. I had uncles who served on D-Day, fought in the Battle of the Bulge," said Pizzillo.
After he graduated in 1970 from St. Mary's High School in South Amboy (now Cardinal McCarrick High School), Pizzillo took a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad, where his father worked. He was of draft age during the Vietnam War when he joined the Marines. His choice of the Marines was based on his ambition of getting into law enforcement.
After leaving the Marines, he worked with the Middlesex County Park Police before joining the South Amboy Police Department in 1979. He rose to the position of chief in 2002, one year before his retirement. He now works with the Attorney General's Office, and still draws on his Marine training.
"What I learned (in the Marines) I used all through my police career. You learn to deal with things, how to rationalize things. It gives you confidence," he said.
Though he — like every Marine before and after him — has dreadful memories of boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., he says the training there is something every young man should go through. "They break you down, and then build you up," he explained.
It is at boot camp where the motto "Once a Marine, Always a Marine" takes root. "When you've gone through the test and get your eagle, globe and anchor pinned here (on your collar), that's when you become part of the tradition," he said, referring to the familiar Marine insignia.
The extended family attended the ceremony when Thomas graduated from Parris Island. Pizzillo missed James' graduation, and it still bothers him.
The week James graduated, Pizzillo was taken to the emergency room with severe stomach pain, and needed emergency surgery. When he told the doctor he had to be in Parris Island that Saturday, the doctor told him he'd likely die first. He had the surgery, and James came in uniform to his bedside when he returned.
Thomas was the first of his sons to join the Marines. He was a student at Cardinal McCarrick when he celebrated his 16th birthday, on Sept. 10, 2001 — the last day of the nation's innocence.
"September 11th affected him a lot," said Pizzillo, who went with other South Amboy officers to assist New York police that day, arriving at Ground Zero at 1 p.m.
After a year at Middlesex County College, Thomas told his parents that school was not for him and he was thinking about joining the Marines. Pizzillo took him to the recruiting station in East Brunswick, where he signed up.
Pizzillo recalled how when he joined the Marines in 1971 he landed at Parris Island with no preparation. When his sons enlisted, they were required to go to East Brunswick twice a week for physical training, allowing them to arrive at Parris Island in reasonably good shape — though good shape is rarely good enough for boot camp.
Joseph is being prepared at Norwich University, where he rises at 5 a.m., wears his uniform to class and takes part in rigorous training — more rigorous, he explained, than students in ROTC who are training to be officers in the Air Force, Army and Navy. "The Army'll be having a barbecue, and we're doing assault drills," said Joseph.
Like his brothers before him, Joseph was active in sports at Cardinal McCarrick, and appears, at first sight, to be ready for Parris Island.
Pizzillo said he is proud of the routes his sons have taken — three into the Marines and one to law school. "If this (story) is for Father's Day I'd like to wish every father, "Happy Father's Day,' " he said.
"I'd like to say to every Marine, "Semper fi.' "
Rick Malwitz:
(732) 565-7291;
Rmalwitz@thnt.com
Ellie
Home News Tribune Online 06/18/06
By RICK MALWITZ
STAFF WRITER
rmalwitz@thnt.com
SAYREVILLE — It is what men routinely did before Jerry Pizzillo did it, and it is what three of his sons are doing today: serving in the military.
"What you get (in the military) is an education in life. You'll never learn in a book or in a school what you learn in the military," said Pizzillo, a retired South Amboy police chief, who served in the Marines from 1971 to 1973.
Today he has one son, Thomas, 20, a Marine corporal, stationed in Iraq. Another son, James, 23, a Marine lance corporal, was stationed there last year. He is home on leave this weekend, and preparing for his second deployment to Iraq next month.
Pizzillo's youngest son, Joseph, 18, just completed his first year at Norwich (Vt.) University, the oldest private military academy in the country. There he is enrolled in the Marines ROTC, and will be commissioned as a second lieutenant when he graduates.
His oldest son, Gerard, is a student at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in East Lansing, Mich.
Today, Pizzillo will spend Father's Day home with James and Joseph, and he anticipates a call from Gerard. Thomas will be excused if he does not phone home.
"It depends on where he is, and we have no idea," said Pizzillo's wife, Sue, who received her Mother's Day phone call from Thomas that Friday.
The couple treats news from Iraq differently. When anything about the war comes on the television, Jerry perks up, and Sue does not. "I find myself not watching. The less I know the better," she said.
Speaking of his sons — and others who chose the military after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had begun — Pizzillo said, "At a time of war, they stepped up to the plate, putting their lives in harm's way."
"But as their father," he added. "I wish I could trade places."
There is no way of overstating the Pizzillos' patriotism — from the multiple flags in their front yard, the many stickers on their vehicles and the red, white and blue theme of most rooms in their house.
Their collection of Americana artwork began with a worn black wooden box about the size of a hope chest, now resting in their family room. It is the wooden box Jerry's maternal grandmother, Rose Sorrentino, used to bring her belongings through Ellis Island. Pizzillo has been unable to get the precise date of her arrival from Italy, knowing only it was sometime before her 1910 wedding in the United States.
Sue's grandfather, Joseph Kemble, served in World War I, and her father, James Kemble, served in the Navy on the USS Franklin in World War II.
Jerry's father, Pat, served on the USS Missouri in World War II, though he was not on board the ship when Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepted the formal surrender from Japan on Sept. 2, 1945.
After the war, Pat Pizzillo returned to his home in Jersey City, before building a home in Sayreville in 1950, where he still lives today. His brother, Thomas Pizzillo, died during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in 1944.
"I grew up listening to war stories. I was born into it. I had uncles who served on D-Day, fought in the Battle of the Bulge," said Pizzillo.
After he graduated in 1970 from St. Mary's High School in South Amboy (now Cardinal McCarrick High School), Pizzillo took a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad, where his father worked. He was of draft age during the Vietnam War when he joined the Marines. His choice of the Marines was based on his ambition of getting into law enforcement.
After leaving the Marines, he worked with the Middlesex County Park Police before joining the South Amboy Police Department in 1979. He rose to the position of chief in 2002, one year before his retirement. He now works with the Attorney General's Office, and still draws on his Marine training.
"What I learned (in the Marines) I used all through my police career. You learn to deal with things, how to rationalize things. It gives you confidence," he said.
Though he — like every Marine before and after him — has dreadful memories of boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., he says the training there is something every young man should go through. "They break you down, and then build you up," he explained.
It is at boot camp where the motto "Once a Marine, Always a Marine" takes root. "When you've gone through the test and get your eagle, globe and anchor pinned here (on your collar), that's when you become part of the tradition," he said, referring to the familiar Marine insignia.
The extended family attended the ceremony when Thomas graduated from Parris Island. Pizzillo missed James' graduation, and it still bothers him.
The week James graduated, Pizzillo was taken to the emergency room with severe stomach pain, and needed emergency surgery. When he told the doctor he had to be in Parris Island that Saturday, the doctor told him he'd likely die first. He had the surgery, and James came in uniform to his bedside when he returned.
Thomas was the first of his sons to join the Marines. He was a student at Cardinal McCarrick when he celebrated his 16th birthday, on Sept. 10, 2001 — the last day of the nation's innocence.
"September 11th affected him a lot," said Pizzillo, who went with other South Amboy officers to assist New York police that day, arriving at Ground Zero at 1 p.m.
After a year at Middlesex County College, Thomas told his parents that school was not for him and he was thinking about joining the Marines. Pizzillo took him to the recruiting station in East Brunswick, where he signed up.
Pizzillo recalled how when he joined the Marines in 1971 he landed at Parris Island with no preparation. When his sons enlisted, they were required to go to East Brunswick twice a week for physical training, allowing them to arrive at Parris Island in reasonably good shape — though good shape is rarely good enough for boot camp.
Joseph is being prepared at Norwich University, where he rises at 5 a.m., wears his uniform to class and takes part in rigorous training — more rigorous, he explained, than students in ROTC who are training to be officers in the Air Force, Army and Navy. "The Army'll be having a barbecue, and we're doing assault drills," said Joseph.
Like his brothers before him, Joseph was active in sports at Cardinal McCarrick, and appears, at first sight, to be ready for Parris Island.
Pizzillo said he is proud of the routes his sons have taken — three into the Marines and one to law school. "If this (story) is for Father's Day I'd like to wish every father, "Happy Father's Day,' " he said.
"I'd like to say to every Marine, "Semper fi.' "
Rick Malwitz:
(732) 565-7291;
Rmalwitz@thnt.com
Ellie